Phillip had glanced away from the beautiful, young peasant girl to speak to a man about grain supplies, and when he looked up again she was gone.  His disappointment was interrupted by a discussion that quickly began about the need for a new village well.  Phillip listened to the concerns, asked his own questions, and made promises that seemed to please one and all.

Suddenly, his Guardsmen and Terrano were moving, as if to intercept someone approaching him.  When he leaned to look between the men at the supposed danger approaching, Phillip was pleased to see the peasant girl again.

"All if well," Phillip called to his protection.  He commanded Terrano, "Let them through."

The Guardsmen parted and their Captain stepped aside and back, and an older, obviously intoxicated man announced, [color=blue]"My liege! Behold! My beautiful daughter Marina!"[/color]

Some of the other villagers laughed, and Phillip himself couldn't help but smile in amusement.  The young woman stepped closer, performed a simple curtsey, and greeted, [color=blue]"It's a pleasure to meet you, my Lord. And thank you for the feast."[/color]

Phillip was still new to the whole [I]Nobility[/I] thing; until just months ago he, too, had been a simple peasant after all.  He didn't fully understand the protocol regarding a Noble Lord addressing a Peasant Subject, and before he'd even contemplated the ramifications -- and before Terrano, at his side, could quietly lecture him against it -- Phillip had leaned forward, taken the woman's hand, lifted it, and ever so gently kissed the back side of it.
 
"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, m'lady," he said.  He stood tall again and let the young woman's hand slide from his as he smiled to her with delight.  He glanced about the feast -- at the music, the dance, and the villagers watching his ever move -- and looked back to the woman named Marina.  "And the feast is the least I could do for the people of Echo Valley."

Beside Marina, her teetering father was simply beaming with joy.  Phillip looked him over for a quick moment, then confirmed, "Your daughter is, indeed, beautiful my good man.  My compliments."

Phillip looked back to Marina, smiling with delight.  He let his gaze work its way down her form, then back up as he asked her some random questions about Echo Valley and what her family did for a living.  His attention wasn't on her answers; hell, later he wouldn't even recall the specific questions he'd asked.  His attention was firmly on this girl's beauty and on his desire to invite her to his elegant tent on the far side of the river … to see what other beauty she had to offer from under her simple gown.

There had been a great many things learned over the past months, since Phillip was lifted to the Noble Class.  And one of those things learned had been how much easier it was to get a woman to remove her clothes and slip into his bed.  Some of the women who'd kept him warm at night had done so for the coin left out for them in the morning.  Some had done so in the hopes of gaining favor from a man of power.

Phillip was no idiot; he knew what the women of recent months had wanted from him.  For the most part, they'd gotten it.  At the same time, he'd known what he'd wanted from them.  And, again, he'd gotten it.  It had been nice, but it hadn't been enough.  Phillip yearned for the [I]love[/I] of a woman, not just the [I]lust[/I]. 

But the love of a woman likely wasn't in Phillip's future.  His Counselors had already begun the quest for a suitable wife, one that would bring political or financial power to the House of Greeling.  Phillip was yet to have a home -- or even a bed -- in which to spend time with a future wife, and yet his Counselors were already searching for just such a woman.

Phillip wouldn't marry for love.  Oh, he might find love with such a woman some day in the future.  But that wasn't the ultimate goal, of course.

For now, the best Phillip could hope for from a woman was a night of warmth and wildness.  As he looked upon the beautiful Marina of Echo Valley, he couldn't help but imagine finding such with her.